Thanks guys. My son and I took the 1450 out for a loop this evening in the dark. In all honesty, that's the most seat time I've had on this old girl since I've acquired her a couple weeks ago. Noticed constant smoke with the headlights on. Something I didn't see in the daylight. I'll get some more seat time (hopefully pushing snow/ under load) and double check the oil level and spark plug. I'd also like to be sure the carb is properly adjusted and not overly rich.

I'll be asking my brother more questions about the engine rebuild real soon...

Well, here is something that is new to me, but I thought that it was worth sharing with you---and don't ask me exactly why it worked this way. My 126 smoked on start up quite a bit with the choke out (which is common) and I had it running a little rich. As it was running, I could see smoke in the beam of the headlights. It also had some hesitation every now and then in it. Well, yesterday, I put a brand new coil on and thoroughly cleaned the points. Now it starts faster than any cub I have ever owned (even my zero turn) and without any choke at all with absolutely no smoke whatsoever! Perhaps you are due for a tune up as well.....:bigthink:

Hope that you are enjoying this forum. It is great to see another enthusiast join!

Cub Cadet 123